FAQs

The ideal climate for climbing these mountains is during the dry season, which is between May and October. It is colder during these months but this does mean you will have clearer skies and less loose snow to slow your ascents up. It is still usually possible to climb during the months of March, April and November but the weather is less guaranteed. It is not advisable to climb between December and February.

Treks and Tours are possible throughout the year but the advice still stands with regards to the weather.

We are a specialist company and will only work with our own expert staff leading our climbing expeditions. We will not contract other agencies to run our expeditions. Whereas tours and treks can usually be arranged with a matter of weeks' (or even days') notice, you should endeavour to book any climbs as much in advance as you can. As soon as our guides are fully booked, you will have to be flexible on the dates we will be able to accommodate you.

To secure a booking with Bolivian Mountains, we request a deposit of US$250 per person (or 25% of the trip cost, whichever is the lower) when the booking is made. The final balance is due 30 days prior to the trip start date. This payment can be made as a transfer to the company’s UK account or by credit card via Paypal.

As Bolivian Mountains has an operating office in the UK, we must abide by EU Tour Operator regulations. These require that all trip funds must be held in reserve until the trip itself begins, ensuring any refunds due can be paid.

For full details of our payment conditions, please look at our Booking Conditions

Citizens of the EU are able to visit Bolivia for any period up to 90 days with a tourist visa. This is given to visitors on their arrival in the country. US citizens do need to apply for a tourist visa which has a cost of US$160 approx, this can be obtained in advance or on arrival in Bolivia. Citizens from other countries should check with the Bolivian Consulate in their country of residence.

For all information on recommended inoculations and anti-malarial regimes, you should contact MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) www.masta.org for the most up to date information. Depending on whether you choose to go to the Amazon basin (below 1,500m), you may or may not need to take anti-malarials. If only visiting the highlands, malaria is not a risk.

La Paz is situated at 3,650 metres above sea level, and the peaks our expeditions cover vary between 5,000m and 6,500m. As such it is important to allow time for acclimatisation. High altitude affects people due to the drop in atmospheric pressure and lower level of oxygen found at these heights. It is difficult to predict exactly how much time one needs to acclimatise, as it varies from person to person and does not depend on level of fitness or health.

As a point of reference though, we would recommend a MINIMUM of five full days acclimatisation before taking on any of the lower peaks, and AT LEAST a week before setting out to climb any mountain near or above 6,000m (with, ideally, having climbed a lower peak or done a high altitude trek beforehand).

Each tour, trek and climb has been rated to give you an idea of how physically demanding each trip is. Please note though, this is just a point of reference and the general rule is the better shape you are in, the more you are likely to enjoy them.

The ratings are set as follows:

Requires a reasonable level of fitness. If you keep regularly active this should be enough.

Quite demanding. It is important to be in good shape to fully enjoy these trips.

Very demanding. Any trip with this rating should only be taken on by people who have a high level of fitness.

Our guides are also very experienced instructors and you will receive the necessary training and instruction on the mountainside for the majority of our trips, even if you have had no previous experience of trekking or climbing.

There are some routes however which do require some experience and these are marked with a "axe" logo beside the physical ratings.

If you click on plan your trip, you will find links to our recommended flight agencies, insurance providers and local operators for other areas of Bolivia.

We are happy to arrange your entire trip for you on the ground in Bolivia - hotels, tours, jungle trips, mountain biking etc. However, we do not run these trips ourselves and would be contracting other specialist agencies to run the trip for us. The agencies we use are quality, reputable agencies with whom we have worked for many years and we would not use them if we were not confident of their calibre.

If you do ask us to arrange tours other than our own, we will charge a small commission (5%) on top of the price you would normally pay if you dealt with them directly, but we will ensure that all trips and connections run as smoothly as is "Bolivianly" possible. The choice is yours.

Bolivian Mountains provides all top quality technical equipment as standard for any technical expeditions. Any personal gear (ie. clothing), you are expected to provide yourself although we can rent out most gear if you do not have it or choose not to bring it with you.

Check our equipment list for more details on the sort of kit we recommend.

On the tours, your guide will be an English speaker, who will give you thorough and interesting explanations of all the areas you will be visiting with him. The trekking and climbing guides are not fluent English speakers. They all speak more than enough to ensure that you are safe on the mountain and to deal with any emergency situations which may occur but are by no means fluent. We select them for their mountain expertise, not for their linguistic ability. If you would like to have a bilingual guide on any of our treks or climbs, please state so on your booking.